The district of Brighton and Hove was created in 1997 as a merger of the former Borough of Brighton and Borough of Hove, both of which had been lower-tier districts with East Sussex County Council providing county-level services prior to 1997.

[4] For the purposes of lieutenancy and shrievalty, Brighton and Hove remains part of the wider ceremonial county of East Sussex.

[5] The new district was awarded borough status from its creation on 1 April 1997, allowing the chair of the council to take the title of mayor.

[8] The same month, two councillors, mother and daughter[9] Bharti Gajjar and Chandni Mistry, were removed from the Labour group after allegations concerning their places of residence.

In its capacity as a county council it is a local education authority, and is responsible for social services, libraries and waste disposal.

[4] Political control of the council since 1997 has been as follows:[15][16] The role of mayor is largely ceremonial in Brighton and Hove.